Azure Dragons (Supernatural Shifter Academy #2) - G. Bailey Page 0,2
him in waves, sending fresh shivers up my spine as we stare each other down like predator and prey… except which one of us is the predator, and which one of us is the prey?
The tension mounts until Shade finally speaks up, that cocky grin still on his face. “Take a picture, Boots,” he tells me. “It’ll last longer.”
“Ass,” I mutter, still struggling to form the words around my wolf’s snout and thankful he can’t see my embarrassment at being called out like that. And then, without thinking about it, I lunge for him, sending him tumbling to the ground as I pounce on him playfully. The forest floor is carpeted with leaves and fallen pine needles, cushioning the fall, and Shade lets out a laugh as I land on top of him, my weight pressing him against the ground.
Weird, I think. Usually I can’t hold the form this long.
And that does it. In an instant, the control slips away from me, and I pop back into my human form in a split second—which, as you might imagine, leaves us in a rather compromising position. For a moment we just lie there, staring at one another with me on top of him in a tangle of limbs. The seconds tick by, seeming to stretch on into infinity, and it dawns on me how close I am to him; my face is inches above his, close enough to make out the scar on his temple and the blasé look in his eyes. “You don’t look so bad from this angle, Boots,” he remarks, and I groan, rolling my eyes.
The moment broken, a familiar nervousness seizes me, and I scramble off him, dusting leaves and dirt off my pants as I hold out a hand to help him up. He takes it and gets to his feet, his skin cool against mine, and I realise my heart is pounding wildly. In spite of his arrogance, I think Shade realises it too; he tips me a wink before turning around. Through the trees, we can make out the shape of the Academy in the distance, a campus of stalwart brick buildings that have been on this remote Scottish island for years.
Even now, though, I can’t help but wonder—is it a refuge, or a prison?
The sound of the clock tower bell ringing shakes us out of our thoughts. “Come on,” I say, nodding in the direction of the quad. “You said you didn’t want to miss dinner.”
Shade smirks. “There are more important things than dinner,” he observes. “I could maybe be talked out of it, if it means spending more time rolling around on the ground with you.”
I raise my eyebrows. “Oh? Is that why you offered to help me get ready, then?”
“I’ll leave that for you to figure out, Boots.”
Shaking my head in a combination of exasperation and self-consciousness, watching as the wolf shifter turns on his heel and heads off in the direction of the campus without so much as a glance back over his shoulder.
A moment later, I straighten up, square my shoulders, and follow him.
Chapter 2
Even though I’m finally starting to learn my way around the main academic building, I find myself occasionally getting confused by the winding halls and endless doorways. The only way I’m normally able to navigate the place is by following the crowd and hoping it leads me where I need to go… unless, of course, we’re talking about the dining hall. When food is concerned, I have a sixth sense—although the fact that everyone else is heading in the same direction doesn’t hurt either. It’s a sea of starched uniforms and buzzing weekend energy, and all the students seem supercharged with the respite of a day off. I fall into step beside Shade as we allow the crowd to sweep us away and catch myself eyeing him out of the corner of my eye as we navigate the hallway that branches off the foyer. His hair is getting long, and a lock of it falls into his eyes as we walk; I’m struck with the urge to reach out and brush it out of his face, but manage to stop myself—that’s not a road I’m ready to go down right now. Or ever. Still, I can appreciate him from a distance, even if he does need a haircut.
I’m pulled out of my thoughts by a familiar lilt off to my left: “There you two are.”
I turn around to see Hazel muscling through the crowd to